Underground
The Underground (地下世界, lit. Underground World) is one of the locations in the 2014 Strider. Most of this stage is made up of ancient temple ruins, likely inspired by the ruins of El Dorado from Strider 2. Story One of the five main districts in Kazakh City, the Underground district is a large cavernous area that extends beneath the city itself. A large portion of this area is taken up by a massive water treatment facility and a refuse disposal center which takes the brunt of the organic and chemical wastes dumped in the Underground by the Research Facility. As a result of this, the whole district is infested with mutated creatures and giant insects. Even deeper below, scattered across the city's underbelly, stands the Buried Temple. A relic of the past, no information about its original purpose has survived and details such as the reason behind its construction, or who was worshipped within its walls, is entirely unknownCapcom (February 2014, multi). Strider Hiryu (Japanese). Story Intel #08: Buried Temple. . Currently, the west side of the temple is under the jurisdiction of Meio's Army, and holds the prototype Gravitron, whereas the east side has been taken over by Grandmaster Meio's enforcer Juroung to serve as his headquarters. Hiryu visits the Buried Temple at first to find and destroy the first Gravitron. Much later in his mission he's thrown into the Underground Dump by Meio, and meets again with the Black Marketer, who sends him to reclaim a "key" (Magnetic Cypher) from Juroung Hiryu needs to continue his mission. Layout The Underground Temple (地下寺院) The entrance of the Buried Temple, the area starts with a large corridor with a Novo-locked door. The temple's entrance is a large open area with a circular opening in the background, from where lava comes out forming a river in the middle of the room. Using a switch to activate platforms from beneath the lava, Hiryu reaches the other end and unlocks the Kunai-locked door to access the temple. Temple West Wing (地下寺院 西棟) The west wing of the Buried Temple, occupied by Meio's Army. This area consists of six rooms with similar forms and designs, including a domed ceiling in th center. Most of these rooms are run by water in the middle or have complex fountains in the background, but atleast two of them are filled with lava flowing in from the exterior. The army has installed several traps in these rooms, including metal doors that open up after destroying all Turrets in the area and electric pistons. The Grand Ascension (通気孔, Ventilation Hole) A long, vertical room set in between the rooms of the West Wing, formed by four tiers. Water can be seen flowing in the walls into an altar in the background, and the floor is filled up with lava. Using a Option-A Interface in the previous room, Hiryu activates a set of Plasma Rings that will carry him upward across the ventilation hole, leading back to the Military Prison. The Magnetic Nexus (特異磁場発生エリア, Unique Magnetic Field Generation Area) A wide, long shaft with a strong gravity distortion, giving it a distinctive purple hue. The ventilator at the top is opened by a switch in a small, adjacent room. Floating all across this shaft are several Small Gravitrons, whose own magnetic fields allows Hiryu to use them as stepping stone and travel down. At the bottom there are two large pits with electricity running and the door to the next area. The Gravitron (グラビトロン) The Gravity Control Room for the prototype model. Preceded by a long ascending room with a sun-shaped icon at the top. Once Hiryu enters, the door closes behind him and he's pushed upwards by the Gravitron's gravity force. Once destroyed, Hiryu gains the Plasma Catapult and can leave the room through two Plasma Warps. Refuse Sorting Center (廃棄物分別センター) The name of the facility that receives most of the garbage from the Research Facility. The Underground Dump (地下廃棄場) A large cavernous area dimly lit with several lamps installed on the ceiling, this area is where most of the refuse from Professor Schlange's Rsearch Lab ends up, and is because of that is crawling with Insect Troopers, Insect PNUTs and Severnsi crabs. The area is formed by two large rooms, the first is a huge cavern with plenty of metallic containers and other trash piled up in the background. Hiryu lands here with the remains of Mecha Pon and continued forward until he reached a small terminal station, where he met the Black Marketer again. The second room is another cavern, but filled up with lava. This area connects into early parts of the Refuse Sorting Center, where Hiryu needs to break through a few grates and go through a trap-filled corridor in order to activate a switch that opens up the path to the center itself. Refuse Processing (廃棄物処理場, Refuse Disposal Site) The area of the facility that process the dispose material. The area begins through a few darkened rooms filled with Troopers, and leads into a long vertical room with several platforms blocking the path. Hiryu needs to find switches found in small rooms at the sides in order to move the platforms and continue downwards. The bottom is a river of lave where containers are being carried away. The next room is a similar vertical area with lava flowing at the bottom. This time Hiryu needs to climb upward while facing several PNUTs and Wall Crawlers to reach the Ultra-Cold Door at the top. This leads to a small rocky room filled with lava, with only three rocks serving as platforms. Hiryu faces the Magmapede here. Underground Post (地下世界 辺境地, Underground World - Frontier Area) A set of corridors and a large, open cavern form this small area. The whole are is barely lit and almost devoid of enemies. There's a small room at the bottom-west which houses a small shrine for Grandmaster Meio, and another room east of there holding the Novo that unlocks the door into the next area, and activates a set of piston. Temple East Wing (地下寺院 東棟) The east side of the temple, which Juroung uses as headquarters. Hiryu arrives at a water-filled room where he destroys two Ognemets. This room follows one filled with lava and a two multi-directional turrets. The next area is another four-tiered vertical room with a bed of lava, where Hiryu must defeat enemies and charge up Novos to proceed. At the west side stands a final water-filled room which leads into the center of the temple. Juroung's Chamber (教祖の間, Founder's Chamber) This room stands at the center of the Buried Temple, and is Juroung's personal room. This area is overflowing with water everywhere, which Juroung uses to his advantage during battle. There's what appears to be a shrine in the background, with a giant sun-shaped icon overlooking the whole room. The room follows into a final four-tier vertical room that leads back to the Magnetic Nexus. Stage Enemies Enemies present in this stage include: * Light Trooper * Military Trooper * Military PNUT * Reinforced Shield Trooper * Turrets * Gravitron * Insect Trooper * Insect PNUT * Severnsi (fire subspecies) * Ognemet * Magmapede * Molot * Peirazmoz * Wall Crawler * Juroung Item Locations Note: Check out the area map in the Gallery section for more specific in-game locations. Gallery Underground_Map.png|In-game map (item location) StrHD_underground_lava.png|Buried Temple's Entrance StrHD_underground_buried_temple.png|The Buried Temple StrHD_underground_temple_west.png|Temple West Wing StrHD_underground_magmapede.png|Refuse Processing (Magmapede's Boss Fight) StrHD_underground_jurongs_chamber.png|Juroung's Chamber Trivia * The logo that represents the Underground district, which resembles a blazing sun, can be seen in the backgrounds of the Buried Temple, emblazoned on walls and decorations, plus large versions seen in the ceilings of certain rooms. This logo is also used as the achievement icon for defeating Grandmaster Meio, possibly hinting Meio is somehow connected with these mysterious ruins, perhaps similarly to Meio being found in the El Dorado Ruins in Strider 2. * Possibly to reinforce the connection above, observing the map of Kazakh City (either the concept art or the in-game one) one can see the Buried Temple is located directly below Meio's Tower. References Category:Locations Category:Kazakh City Areas